Any shallow/short tanks?

[ledford1]

Going with a shallow or short tank has piqued my interest. Rather than a typical 24" to 36" tall tank, have a tank that is 10" to 12" tall.

Are there any experiences or thoughts on this type of tank?

I was thinking along the lines of 72x24x10 for a coral tank. One advantage would be lighting.

Would there be many issues? I'm looking for any kind of feedback.

[ledford1]

ba-bump

[dc_909]

That would be fine for corals that don't grow upwards too much (zoas/rics etc...) I would think SPS would grow to the surface too quick.

Lots of frag tank use the 10 high

[salmon alley]

I just got a custom 48" x 24" x 20" tall tank. (roughly 100 gal).

I got tired of having to stand on a stool to reach the bottom of my tank.

I still need to build a stand for it, so I'm a ways off from putting anything into it yet.

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Second that, works for frags but probably too short for a grow-out SPS tank. Also consider that you'll HAVE to have an ATO as a tank of that large a footprint will quickly evaporate and drop in water height (which will already be somewhat low). Aside from those issues and the aesthetic issue of not having a good side view tank IMO, no other problems that I can think of. It will pretty much ensure great oxygenation and will probably be easier to provide good flow.

[geoxman]

I have a 36x36x10 tank and it is the favorite of all my tanks. I have had the typical 75, 90, 120, and 200 and I like the shallow one the best. This tank is also all black acrylic top down view only.
I dont really care for sticks but if you wanted to do SPS there are plenty of lateral growing kind as well. good luck

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Plate corals would be great for such a system.

[easye123]

check this out .. this is my borthers tank
i accidently put 30g long its a 33g long i dont know how deep but its 4 feet x 12 inches tall

heres a vid

http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t...=ryan_0001.flv

[Glove]

ledford1 I have the tank you are thinking about....
This is 72L x 24W x 11Deep.
actinic...

ONE halide lamp on


I would like to have it just a tad deeper, maybe 15 inches but 12" would be great for just 'frags'. I have a green slimer and another unknown acro that are about to the surface. hmm.... I have plate corals getting close too.
The tank has been going about 2 years (I think). It really was supposed to be "just a frag tank for now, honey" but as the pictures show, I am full- out of room- no vacancy.
So my thoughts on a long term shalow depth tank?
-Different look.
-Evap issues! I burn 3gal a day sometimes and I still have yet to get an ATO system (5gal bucket on the ole' bar stool w/ some airline hose)
-Lighting could probably be reduced to 175 halides or even t-5s. You would need to play w/ the numbers. I have a PFO fixture (3) 250 DE (unkown make-I dont even use all three lamps, just the center)10k + 2 VHO actinic lamps.
I think 250w over 12" of water is about the upper limit.
*my lighting causes issues w/heat trying to keep 82-83.
No chiller.Creative use of fans.

-Flow? I have a Panworld 1200 gph non presure rated pump going through 3/4 pipe returning in two locations from the top rear of the tank- AWSOME ripples on the surface! I use two Seio 620s on each end. All the flow crashes in the middle and its not bad. I would like to add a couple more bulkheads in the rear towards he bottom. I had sand,and green algea problems for me then. Got rid of the sand and have coraline algea problems now

Over-all, we all know its a personal thing. I am setting up a 240 that will hold all my larger corals and fish but I will keep this shallow tank going for fraging and grow-outs.
You could do some awsome stuff with flat growing type corals like zoas, shrooms, blastos, acans, favias, plates (montiporas).
I see visions of a rolling hills sort of bottom covered in colonial mats, with different plate corals here and there....